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Austin "Red" Flanagan
History Early Life Austin Flanagan, known to most as "Red", was born into the slums of New York City. His father's identity was unknown, being raised by his alcoholic mother. As a young child he suffered verbal abuse from his mother as well as physical abuse from the many "friends" that his mother frequently brought to their small one bedroom apartment. Any sense of love and affection that a child should receive was absent, and instead was replaced with hatred. It came as no surprise that at the age of six Austin decided to run away from home, swiping the wallet from both his abusive mother on the way out. Even for as young as he was, Austin was able to survive on his own for almost an entire month with the help of further pickpocketing. However, it was an inevitability that the boy was to be caught by the proper authorities. When he was questioned by the authorities on where he belonged, he refused to even give them his own name. With his mother not bothering to step forward, and with no other means to identify him, he was given the nickname "Red" by the Social Services workers. Red proved to be a problem child, often getting into fights with his foster siblings, stealing possessions from the households of his foster families, and would often run away from his foster homes after a short period of time. After a year of unsuccessfully going from foster family to foster family, the adults in charge of him effectively gave up on him. In their eyes, Red's future would end up in him being locked up in prison. However, Red's antics caught the eyes of a certain organization that was in need of children just like Red. This organization was the massive yet inconspicuous group known as Lycan, whose ultimate goal was the advancement of the human race over the various other species that spanned across the various worlds. Since their work was done mostly in the shadows, they needed individuals that were both capable of accomplishing any task given to them as well as obediently follow their masters. The Five At the age of seven, Red and twenty-nine other similarly aged children were abducted by Lycan. These children would be trained to become the newest special forces unit of Lycan's paramilitary organization, Warwolf, which was tasked with doing Lycan's dirty work within the public eye. Their head instructor was a man that went by the name "Reaper". He had been involved in practically every major conflict around the world, participating on whoever's side had paid the most money until one day when Warwolf offered him a long term contract he couldn't refuse. Reaper's training was brutal. Every single moment of these children's' lives were devoted to learning how to become the deadliest soldiers on the planet. Their training consisted of things such as advanced weapons training, extreme weather survival skills, and a wide range of martial arts practice. By the time the children had turned fourteen, only five of them remained. For those that remained, they all possessed the athletic abilities of an Olympian as well as the mental prowess of an Ivy League professor. Through the entire ordeal, Red had become fairly attached to the others within the group and had even managed to gain a much friendlier attitude, albeit with the ability to turn into a cold hearted killer at any given moment. The same could be said of the others in the group, who saw each other as family. Pleased with their results, Lycan began to assign the group, known only as "The Five", on various missions across the world. Assassinations, intelligence gathering, and stealing anything Lycan needed for their ambitions. These days were relatively pleasant for Red as he finally felt as though he had a purpose. Red would've likely stayed along this path had it not been for one fateful day when The Five was sent on what seemed like an ordinary job overseeing an arms deal between Lycan representatives and a Middle Eastern terrorist organization who saw those with powers and non-humans as heresy to their religious ideology. However, when the team arrived to the designated building where the arms deal was supposed to take place in, they found the place abandoned. The only notable thing was a small tablet laying on a table in the middle of the open floor, which Red proceeded to investigate. Upon activating it, he was greeted with a familiar voice telling them a simple yet ominous message. They had become liabilities. Before the group could try and decipher what this meant for them, gunshots rang out, striking them all in quick succession. All but Red were dead before they even hit the floor, and Red was critically wounded as he laid on the ground bleeding out. Out from the shadows appeared the owner of the voice from before, Reaper. The mercenary gave a small apology for his actions, telling Red it had to be done. Apparently their group's connection with Lycan was on the verge of being discovered by the international intelligence community, and Lycan decided it would be easier to just tie up loose ends. Reaper prepared to finish off the last remaining member of the Five, when suddenly the sound of breaking glass followed by the rapid firing of a bow filled the air. The intruder was none other than the infamous hero Quickshot, who had been hot on the trail of the mercenary and had finally found him. A brief battle took place before Reaper was forced to retreat, detonating the explosive charges he had placed around the building to cover his escape. As Red's consciousness faded, the last thing he saw with the falling debris crashing down towards him. He was content with dying with the rest of his team, however, and closed his eyes as he accepted him fate. However, instead of the afterlife Red found himself waking up handcuffed to a hospital bed, covered in bandages and with various medical equipment plugged into him. Sleeping on a nearby recliner was Quickshot, who had apparently rescued him from the collapsing building and brought him to the nearest hospital for medical treatment where they were barely able to save his life. With no other options, Red called out to the man, who seemed none to pleased to be disturbed from his rest. He began to barrage him with questions, the first being the status of the other four members of his team. When the news that they had been found dead in the wreckage was given, Red felt his heart nearly fall out of his chest. However, this feeling was soon replaced with a blazing sense of anger as his next question was what had become of Reaper. Quick Shot could only say that his body hadn't been found, meaning that he was likely still alive. Overcome with grief, he began to try and free himself from his restraints, actually succeeded in breaking off one of them before Quick Shot spoke up. He had clues that could track down the man, even though they were faint at best. Quick Shot told Red that he would give these clues to him only on the condition that he give up on his life as a mercenary and instead use his talents to help save others. At first, Red couldn't help but laugh at the idea. Him, a kid who had already killed dozens of people whose innocence was more or less up for debate, being a superhero? Quick Shot didn't seem to share the humor, as with a serious tone he told Red that his other option was to remained locked up for the rest of his life with no way to track down Reaper. The choice, while ridiculous, was made obvious for Red. He accepted the offer and thus sealed his fate to become what he had been trained for a decade to fight against. While he was given a relative amount of freedom, Red was forced to abide by a series of rules laid out by Quick Shot, the most important one being not able to kill anyone under any circumstance or else he would find himself locked away for the rest of his life without being given another a second chance. From there on, Red began to work as a vigilante under the guise of "The Mask" in the city of San Diego, occasionally teaming up with Quickshot and even other heroes, although Red's attitude quickly resulted in his partners either leaving him or outright quitting their roles as heroes. During this time, he had many run ins with another young hero, a martial arts user with the power of shadow manipulation who was known as Nightshade. The two quickly became rivals, However, as the school year approached, Red was forced into attending Thomsen High School. He thought the act was worthless considering he had more academic knowledge than even the teachers possessed, but Quickshot insisted he attend to better help his social skills. Red never made any real friends while attending the school, the only notable part of the school year being when he discovered that his rival Nightshade was in fact one of his own classmates, Roy Damon. Young Bloods First Encounter Red's first real interaction with the Young Bloods came during a party that was held on Wonder Island by a students of Thomsen High as a way of celebrating the beginning of summer vacation. Initially, Red kept to himself somewhat, content on sipping on alcohol and briefly dancing with a girl. However, when the sight of escaped prisoners resulted in many of the partygoers fleeing in panic, Red stepped up along with other students of Thomsen to fight the escapees. Red did relatively well against the escaped prisoners, some of which possessed powers, although he did suffer relatively light injuries after being blown away in an explosion due to a last-ditch effort he made against a particularly tough opponent. It was during this when Red would encounter Yoshiro Nakama for the first time, seeing Roy helping her after being beaten down by another escaped prisoner. When he eventually awoke after being treated by another student, Alexis Callaghan, Red found an unconscious Yoshiro laying on the ground as the rest of the students fought of the remaining escapees. Red carried Yoshiro back to join the others, When the idea for the creation of a team was introduced, Red decided that he would join the team, for reasons he couldn't quite figure out. Although noting that he could care less for what they called themselves, Red was unopposed to the naming of the team being the Young Bloods. During the time spent on the beach, Red participated in a game of sand volleyball with several others of the newly formed team, noting the capabilities of those involved for his own personal knowledge. The Zoo When word came that the San Diego Zoo was under attack, Red and the rest of the Young Bloods deployed to the scene in their team's newly acquired jet. The name's of the villains involved were familiar to him, but one in particular caught his attention. This villain was Marionette. Red was fully aware of all of the crimes the young murderous villain had committed, and was hell-bent on taking her out before she could do any more damage. When the jet landed, Red quickly began to search for Marionette, following the trail of blood and dead bodies as he eventually found himself in the polar bear exhibit portion of the zoo, finding evidence that Marionette was nearby. Red was about to call in what he had found, when suddenly he found himself unable to move, his entire body trapped in a web of threads. Out from the shadows appeared none other than the person he had been searching for, Marionette. After giving a vague yet malicious warning to the rest of the Young Bloods via Red's headset, she began to approach the trapped hero. As was part of her psychotic personality, Marionette flirted with the Young Blood briefly before asking Red to do what he considered unthinkable. As part of her own desires, she wanted Red, whom she had complete knowledge of his prior life, to kill Roy's best friend, Marvin "Mars" Asarin. The villain hoped that such an event would trigger Roy to fall down into a path of darkness and despair, something she seemed to fantasize about immensely. She even offered to allow Red to join her afterwards, effectively "freeing" him of his responsibilities and restrictions placed upon him. Red pretended to go along with her request, even asking for a kiss from her as a reward for his cooperation. She embarrassingly accepted his request, leaning in to kiss him before Red delivered a surprise headbutt to her, momentarily freeing him of her grasp. It was at this time a handful of the other Young Bloods emerged to rescue Red, including Yoshiro. After the others managed to distract Marionette, Red took off from the scene, taking Yoshiro with him in the process as he tried to think of a way of defeating the enraged villain. After some time spent running, eventually Red formulated a risky plan to stop her. Waiting until the last second, Red shot down a hanging trolley with his sidearm, and with Yoshiro's help managed to send the object hurtling into Marionette who was taken by surprise. Thinking she was defeated, Red offered to allow Yoshiro to handcuff Marionette, claiming he'd done enough to ruin her day. However, this proved to be a major mistake on his part, as a still conscious Marionette used her threads to snatch one of his sidearms from its holster and used the weapon to hold Yoshiro hostage. After a brief standoff, Marionette escaped under a cloud of smoke provided by some minor henchmen. Rushing over to protect Yoshiro, Red fired his sidearm with live ammunition at the henchmen, putting them out of commission with shots to non-vital regions. Seeing as Yoshiro had passed out from a blow to the head Marionette gave her before escaping, Red carried the unconscious girl back to the police line where paramedics treated her. After a brief exchange of words, the two made their way back to the zoo where the rest of the Young Bloods were being swarmed with reporters after successfully detaining the villains with the exception of Marionette. Frustrated at the seeming lack of care for those who had died during the attack as well as the accusatory questions directed at both him and Yoshiro, Red pulled his gun out slightly to scare off the reporters, a move that while successful caused controversy and reinforced the notion that he was too much of a loose canon on the team. Upon their return to the Tower, the Young Bloods were assembled into a meeting room where Naja, their team's overseer, awaited them. While she was glad to know that everyone came out okay, she had several bits of criticism for the team. Specifically for Red, scolding him for him threatening the reporters. She wasn't the only one who was upset with Red as Mike Matthews, one of the members of the team, began to yell at him and accusing him of being a loose canon. An intense argument broke out between the two, Red defending his actions and pointing out all of the flaws during their mission while Mike insisted on Red's irresponsibility. The Smoking Gun After the events of the zoo incident, Red found himself frustrated at his inability to capture Marionette as well as felt frustrations with the rest of the team. He still planned on accompanying them to the training camp Naja planned on the entire team to go on, but when news of the murder of the San Diego's Zoo chief of security, Alberto Romero, as well as his entire family came to him, he instead decided to investigate this instead as he was unable to miss the opportunity to shed light on the attack. Disguising himself as a crime scene investigator, Red investigated the scene of the crime. He quickly became enraged at the sight of the murdered children, the sight not being unfamiliar to him and acted as a reminder to his past life. After discovering that a special type of gadget had been used to break into the secured house as well as a card in Alberto's office belonging to a dive bar known as "The Deep End", he hastily made his way back to the Tower to continue his investigation. Later that night, Red made his way to the crime-ridden downtown area of San Diego where The Deep End was located. After realizing he had no way of getting inside, Red was about to forgo his investigation until he could think of a better plan when the panicked sounds of a man caught his attention. The man in question was being held up by gunpoint by a helmeted figure, the man claiming he had connections in The Deep End as a last-ditch effort to save his life. Approaching the two, Red demanded that the helmeted figure let the man go, only to see her slice the man's throat open with a knife and killing him. Furious at losing his only lead, Red fought the stranger in the alleyway, several gunshots ringing off as the two battled furiously. While it became apparent that this person was no pushover in terms of fighting ability, Red eventually was able to defeat her. Before he could get any further information out of her, a group of armed thugs appeared in the alleyway and began to fire at the pair of vigilantes. Included in their ranks was a man armed with a flamethrower, who quickly pinned down the pair behind a dumpster. With no better options available Red helped the girl, who he later learned called herself Raven, jump above the flames and blow up the fuel tank on the man, killing him and several other thugs in the process. After this, the two escaped to a nearby abandoned building, where Red began to question who she was and what she was doing. Raven remained somewhat cryptic, but entertained Red for some time, including kissing him passionately before stealing one of Red's stun devices and tasing him with it. As Red's consciousness faded away, the last thing he saw was the mysterious Raven walking away back into the night. The next day, Red woke up confused as to what had all occurred, but nonetheless decided to continue his investigation as he returned back to the now vacant Tower. He did his best to try and come up with more leads, but soon found himself at a dead-end as the Raven girl from the night before had killed off his best chance at uncovering the identity of the Romero family's murderer. Frustrated, Red went out for a night of crime-patrolling. It didn't take him long to run into a woman attempted to be assaulted by a common street thug, whom Red made quick work of. However, to his surprise a squadron of police cars appeared, the officers demanding that Red surrender. Although confused, Red complied with the officer's orders, and soon found himself being placed under arrest for the murder of the Roberto family in addition to several of the dead thugs found in the alleyway. Unknown to him at the time, Marionette had been planting evidence to incriminate Red of the murder of the Roberto family, using the sidearm she stole from him at the Zoo to kill off not only them but several other criminals in the area. In addition to this, she faked several phone calls to the police when reporting these murders, each time describing Red's appearance. With all of this information in addition to the general public's opinion on Red as a loose canon, Red found himself being locked away behind bars. Red took it all with a somber outlook, considering what was happening to him an indirect consequence for all he had done in the past. Red had a brief chat with his former mentor, Quickshot, who much to Red's dismay fully believed that he was guilty of his crimes. Red hung up on the hero and was about to leave when he decided to call one last person, Yoshiro. She along with the rest of the Young Bloods were on a remote island, unaware of what was occurring to Red back in San Diego. After informing her of what had happened, Red apologized before the phone line disconnected. Returning back to his cell, it didn't take long for his fellow inmates to recognize him, telling him flat out that they were going to get their revenge at the first opportunity provided to them. When the time came for the inmates to get free time out in the yard, Red prepared himself as a group of inmates tried to overwhelm him with numbers. Red was able to defeat most of them, however, even when they attacked him with contraband weapons. After the fight concluded, Red was sent away into solitary confinement as a punishment, where Red continued to solemnly think over his past. However, to his surprise, Raven and another girl appeared, disguised in police officer uniforms. Much to his objections, the girls planned on helping him escape the prison, faking a story of transferring Red to another prison as a means of getting him out. This plan would soon fall flat, however, as the other inmates within the prison suddenly began to become under the influence of a drug Marionette had been purposefully slipping into their foods for some time. This drug, also known as Blood, caused the infected inmates to gain immense strength and durability while at the same time making them extremely aggressive. The trio was then forced to navigate their way out of the prison, and after an intense struggle the trio managed to escape the prison. It was then when Raven told Red of their plans, of which he held strong objections to. He was supposed to talk to Marionette alone for a given amount of time, something Red knew would not end well. Still, Red decided to play along and joined Marionette, who had prepared an exotic meal for him. Red reluctantly accepted her offer, only for his appetite to be thrown to the side as Marionette asked for Red to join her. For one reason or another, Marionette had appeared to become infatuated with the now disgraced hero, and thought that he would gladly accept her offer. When he refused and began to walk out, however, she became furious and trapped Red with her threads. Using an ancient scarab artifact, she used the device to effectively brainwash Red into doing her every bidding as well as believe that he was sincerely in love with her. Red's true self tried to battle the foreign host, but soon found himself unable to find the strength to do so. Soon, Raven along with two others appeared, and a battle begun. Raven went after Marionette while the other two went after Red with the intent of capturing him. However, now no longer holding back, Red's many years as an assassin showed itself as he managed to defeat both Brianna and Sebastian, Raven's fellow team members. The sudden arrival of the Young Bloods resulted in Red pointing his pistol at Roy, intent on killing his fellow Young Blood. This was until a familiar precesence gave him the strength to continue on. Whether or not it was done on purpose by his teammate or merely a figment of his imagination was up for debate, but Red slowly managed to hold onto the last bit of his true self. He managed to hold off from pulling the trigger on the gun, although he was slowly losing the mental battle as his brainwashed side of him slowly began to regain control. But with the sudden appearance of Yoshiro, as well as her using her powers to rid Red of his possessed self, Red was able to return to normal. And in a move that both surprised everyone at the moment but was likely also something that had been expected, Red and Yoshiro shared a brief but passionate kiss together. However, they weren't able to enjoy their tender moment for too long, as Roy sternly demanded an explanation from Red. At first, Red tried to give a mostly truthful explanation of what had happened, however omitting Raven's connection to any of it at all. Unbeknownst to him, Wendy informed Roy that Red was lying, and when Roy called his bluff, Red was forced to tell the entire truth. While it was seen as more the controversial, Naja allowed Red to return to the Young Bloods as well as gave temporary safe haven to him as the evidence clearing him of the alleged crimes was shown to the police. With this new evidence as well as pressuring from Naja, Red was officially pardoned and his record sponged. This did not completely fix his reputation with the general public, however, as many still believed that Red was either guilty in some way or at least had proved himself to be unfit to be a hero. Final Blood Drug Raid The morning after returning back to the Young Bloods, Red had an awkward time trying to return to normalcy. While most of the Young Bloods had been either glad to see him back or at the least hadn't been openly hostile, Carter was furious at his return. During this time, Red also officially asked Yoshiro out on a date, in which she giddily accepted, marking the official beginning of their relationship. After being briefed on the final raid on San Pharmaceutical, the base of operations for the vampire organization responsible for the distribution of the Blood Drug, Red and several other Young Bloods were assigned to Team A, which was in charge of infiltrating the building. While still a bit hesitant around the others, Red gave his own opinions on the operation during the briefing. When they arrived to the building, Red's usual weapons of choice were notably missing, as he had vowed to never use his firearms ever again to fight crime as a symbolic gesture to both himself and the others that he was actively trying to change himself for the better. The infiltration went to according to plan, and soon the larger battle took place as all of the various teams began executing their objectives. With his team being in charge of picking off any stragglers, Red and the rest of Team A fought off both human guards and then eventually vampires. Team A's battle would climax into a final showdown against a immensely powerful vampire, capable of super strength and speed that injured Red tremendously, including breaking several of his ribs in the process. However, with their combined efforts, Team A would be able to defeat the vampire. On their way back, the injured Red learned of Yoshiro being critically injured during her fight with Inferno, causing Red to ignore his injuries and head straight for the jet where Alexis was treating the injured Young Blood. Red became so worked up that his injuries nearly caused him to pass out standing, and it was only by telling Red to consider what would happen to Yoshiro if he got overworked and died on the jet that he was able to calm down. Before he was knocked out due to the sedatives given to him by Alexis, Red spotted the arrival of Warwolf's forces, knowing full aware what their arrival would mean for not only the Young Bloods but San Diego as a whole. Intermission Red eventually regained consciousness after the Young Bloods returned to the Tower, waking up in the infirmary where Jacob, a son of the hero Hope who likewise possessed powers of healing, had healed his injuries to an extent. After seeing Yoshiro was still recovering, Red decided that the least he could do was inform Roy of the seriousness Warwolf's appearance would be. To Red's surprise, Nathan James, another member of the team, likewise had information on Warwolf and their connection to Lycan. Together, the two made it clear to Roy that bad things were about to come and that they would be wise to prepare. Powers And Abilities Abilities Advanced Training Due to his training, Red possesses superior athletic skills that are paired with a sharp wit that makes him a formidable opponent. He is proficient in the use of weapons, long distance firearms especially. Should a weapon not be immediately available, he also is a master of several different martial arts, making him a dangerous threat for anyone that finds themselves a target of his. Limitations Physical Limits While far above the levels of an average human, Red still is bound by the physical limitations of the human body. Abide By The Rules Red is no longer allowed to kill, and doing so will result in him being imprisoned for the rest of his days. There are also several other actions that will result in the same punishment. Weaknesses Human Mortality Red is like every other human, meaning that anything that would kill or injure a regular person will more or less do the same to him. In-game stats The stats below are from the Young Bloods RPG dev build version 0.5. Starting information Unlocked in: Wonder Island Level: 3 Starting stats (unmodified): * Health: 500 * Energy: 140 * Attack: 23 * Defense: 17 * Special Attack: 22 * Special Defense: 17 * Speed: 33 * Magic Power: 20 Starting equipment: Sig Sauer P229 Red's favorite pistol. Custom built, non-lethal ammunition. * Type: Weapon (Gun) * Effect: +25 Special Attack Titanium Blade Custom made blade, coated in nitride. * Type: Weapon (Sword) * Effect: +25 Attack Hard Leather Hardened leather vest. * Type: Bodywear * Effect: +15 Defense Skills Tackle Attack that may offset an enemy's balance. Damage is based on user's ATK and DEF. * Learned at: Level 1 * Type: Physical Attack * Cost: 10 Stamina * Damage: Atk*4 + Def*2 - Enemy Def*2 * Element: Physical * Accuracy: 100% * Additional effect: 30% chance to Stun. Take Down Use superior martial arts knowledge to take down an opponent. * Learned at: Level 1 * Type: Physical Attack * Cost: 15 Stamina * Damage: Atk*6 - Enemy Def*3 * Element: Physical * Accuracy: 90% * Additional effect: 50% chance to Paralyze. Barrage Unload an entire clip of ammunition on an opponent. * Learned at: Level 1 * Type: Special Attack * Cost: 15 Energy * Damage: 50 + Sp.Atk*3 - Enemy Sp.Def*3 * Element: Physical * Accuracy: 90% * Additional effect: None Headshot Use expert weapons knowledge to try to land a headshot, ignoring enemy defense. * Learned at: Level 1 * Type: Special Attack * Cost: 25 Energy * Damage: Sp.Atk*9 * Element: Physical * Accuracy: 50% * Additional effect: None Reload Pull out a new clip for whatever weapon you are using. * Learned at: Level 4 * Type: Status * Cost: None * Effect: Recover 50 Energy. Grenade Throw Throw a high-explosive grenade to hit all enemies. * Learned at: Level 5 * Type: Special Attack * Cost: 20 Energy * Damage: 100 + Sp.Atk*4 - Enemy Sp.Def*4 * Element: Fire * Accuracy: 85% * Additional effect: 30% chance to Blind. Overview Red is a highly versatile character, having the largest moveset in the game alongside Alexis and Park, which includes damage both on the physical and on the special side of the spectrum, as well as an effective energy recovery skill in the form of Reload (though he does not start with it). This is supported by starting with very good equipment and having the ability to dual-wield, which offsets his fairly low base stats. Without that equipment, however, Red is middling at best, much of his moveset is not unique to him and other characters, such as Roy or Angelica, are able to fulfill his niche as a damage dealer a lot more effectively and without as much frailty baggage. Trivia * Red is a big fan of hunting, but between time constraints and available hunting ground not being close by, he has not been able to enjoy this past time in quite a while * Red likes to casually listening to classical rock music, although prefers heavy metal while working out and training * Around the Tower, Red will often spend his free time training, either physically in the weight room or mentally via reading various criminal science textbooks and other literature that expands his knowledge * While he doesn't like to admit it, Red often feels as if he is one of the weakest members of the team due to his lack of powers, which somewhat can explain his brash behavior with the other members of the team * Red tried to reach out to his mother once, but found out she had died in a drunk driving accident some years after he had ran away from home, causing him to regret not being able to attend her funeral later on in life * Red often finds himself feeling as if he is a bad influence to Yoshiro, and often goes out of his way to stay on his best behavior when she is around * While not much for use of electronics for casual use, Red does enjoy playing strategy games on his computer from time to time, Hearts of Iron Iv being his favorite * For as much heckling as he gives the two, Red was genuinely glad that Roy and Wendy got together, happy to see his rival find some bits of happiness * Red is almost always the first to awaken out of the Young Bloods, often being able to workout in the mornings and cook breakfast by the time the rest of the team are out of bed